A 17-year-old was charged as an adult in the stabbing death of a classmate inside the Baltimore school, police said.

City police said that around noon on Nov. 24, Donte Crawford, of the 800 block of Vine Street, stabbed another student multiple times in the middle of class at Renaissance Academy High School at 1301 McCulloh St.

Witnesses described the scene outside the school as an ambulance took away a student. The victim was identified Wednesday by police in charging documents as a 17-year-old student. WBAL-TV 11 News is not identifying the student.

"They were fighting for his life. He was unconscious. They were doing CPR trying to save them," a witness said.

Police said the victim, who is a junior, suffered life-threatening injuries and was in critical condition after making it through surgery. He died Sunday evening.

"The (17-year-old) suspect (a sophomore) fled the scene and has since been taken into custody without incident in the 800 block of Vine Street," Smith said.

Renaissance Academy High School students can report on Wednesday to Douglas Memorial Church, which is across the street. Booker T. Washington Middle School students, which is in the same building, can report to Union Baptist Church across the street from their part of the building. Counselors are available for students from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Students who left belongings in the school will be able to get them between 10 a.m. and noon Wednesday.

Police said they don't know what led to the stabbing.

The school went into lockdown and eventual evacuation as police blocked off the street and investigated inside.

WBAL-TV\SkyTeam 11

"I have emailed the parents. We robocalled parents. We took youngsters off this site and put them at an alternative site, and as a result they're on their way home safely," Baltimore City Schools CEO Dr. Gregory Thornton said.

Some parents waited outside the school with all this going on.

"It's devastating. It's unbelievable," parent Tanetta Shields said. "I'm scared I'm just keeping the faith and praying that everything's OK and the teachers and students are OK."

Police don't have the knife used in the crime, but are investigating how the suspect got it into the school. Students have to go through metal detectors every day.

"We've conducted safety checks at this location over the last several weeks to make sure the school was safe. That's under investigation," Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said.

Meanwhile, residents said they are shocked and saddened this happened in the middle of the school day.

"That's just tragic. It's tragic. I mean, schools are supposed to be safe. They're there to learn. Let's pray for the kid. I hope he made it. I know he's fighting for his life," the witness said.

WBAL-TV\Tim Tooten

Renaissance Academy High School faces challenges

The school has more than 300 students. It has a partnership with the University of Maryland Social Work using a program called Promise Heights.

After the stabbing incident, some believe that promise may now be hard to come by.

"It doesn't make sense. It's foolishness. It's foolishness for a child to have gotten in the building and actually committed the whole full crime with nobody being able to identify that this was about to happen," resident Katina Best said.

Renaissance Academy was set to close, but the school board changed its mind at the last minute.

"We were very hopeful for the students here and I'm very distressed about what I'm hearing. I just arrived home and I noticed all the activity," resident Henri Daniels said.

The University of Maryland said it's prepared to stand by students and the community in spite of what happened.

"And they are some of the most resilient humans I've ever had the privilege to meet and I just want people to know that incidents like this happen every single day in Baltimore City so we cannot expect our high schools not to sometimes reflect those challenges," University of Maryland social worker Hallie Atwater said.

Thornton may have different plans on what happens next.

"At this point I think I need to go back and do a lot of rethinking. I'm not giving up on the school by a long shot. They're truly great kids here and we're going to figure it out," Thornton said.